Exhumation history of the Katebasu gold–copper deposit, Western Tianshan, NW China: Constraints from (U–Th)/He and fission-track thermochronology

Abstract

Numerous Paleozoic deposits have been found in the Tianshan Mountains. Postmineralization burial plays an important role in the preservation of Paleozoic epizonal deposits. However, the preservation mechanisms for mesozonal deposits in the Tianshan Mountains need further investigation. The late Paleozoic Katebasu gold–copper deposit (with a reported mineralization age varying from ∼ 270 Ma to ∼ 330 Ma) in the Chinese Western Tianshan is a mesothermal magmatic hydrothermal deposit that formed at mesozonal depths. The exhumation process and preservation mechanisms of this deposit remain ambiguous. In this study, (U–Th)/He and fission-track dating were applied to samples from a vertical profile to constrain the exhumation history of the Katebasu deposit. Apatite (U–Th)/He and fission-track ages vary systematically with elevation, ranging from 32.4 ± 9.0 Ma to 176.4 ± 18.0 Ma and 106.4 ± 3.1 Ma to 181.7 ± 5.1 Ma, respectively. Zircon (U–Th)/He ages range from 220.4 ± 11.0 Ma to 260.1 ± 17.4 Ma. The age–elevation relationship and inverse thermal modeling reveal that the Katebasu deposit underwent two phases of exhumation. The first phase of exhumation, which caused at least 4 km of erosion, occurred during the late Paleozoic to Early Jurassic. The second exhumation started during the Early Oligocene, resulting in ∼ 0.9 km of erosion. A protracted period of tectonic stability during the middle–late Mesozoic to early Cenozoic and limited exhumation during the late Cenozoic uplift played important roles in the preservation of the Katebasu deposit.